Brake hanger



April 10, 1945. SCHAEFER 2,373,420

BRAKE HANGER Filed April 10, 1944 I m I 5 16 INVENTOR.

. FREDERZCJCHHEFER.

Patented Apr. 10, 1945 BRAKE HANGER Frederic Schaefer, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application April 10, 1944, Serial No. 530,255 (o1. 1ss 209) 5 Claims.

This invention relates to railway car brake hangers, and more particularly to hangers having horizontal cross arms that are elongated in transverse section so as to interlock with the members to whichthey are connected.

a The inner surfaces of brake hanger cross arms normally engage seats provided in hanger bracket wearplates and brake heads. To limit the movement of each'hanger arm off its seat, the adjoining seat-forming member is provided with a 'con: fining surface on the side of the arm opposite the seat and spaced vertically from the adjacent end oft'he hanger. In the case of old-style hangers with round cross arms, the clearance between the cross arms and. adjacent confining surfaces was a quarter of an inch. That clearance was so great that it permitted excessive vibration of the hanger relative to its seats, thereby causing undue wear.

To decrease that clearance and to lock thecross trance to the seating area of the wear plate.

Whenthe hanger is then swung down into vertic'al position, the cross arm is interlocked with the wear plate and can not be removed from its seating area. The same type of interlock is also provided' between the lower cross arm and the brake head. This hanger is a great improvement over the old round arm type, but due to the advantageous elimination of most of the clearance between the hanger ends and adjacent confining surfaces, tilting of the hanger in its own plane is quite restricted. Tilting is desirable in order to let the brake beam swing lengthwise so that the brake shoes can follow the wheelsif they move axially toward one side or the other of the car truck. Ordinarily, the limited tilting of these hangers is sufiicient, but if the journals are allowed to approach the limits of permissible wear the aide may move lengthwise so far relative to the truck side frames that the brake beam can not follow it because the beam is restrained by the hangers. The result is thatthe brake shoe at one end of the beam rides part way off the outer edge of the adjoining wheel while the shoe at the other end of the beam rides up on the fiange'of the other wheel. Obviouslmbbth 'of these conditions are undesirable.

This elongation takes up It is an object of this invention to provide a brake hanger, of the type normally having slight clearance at its ends, which. can tilt in its own plane to a greater degree than hangers of this type known heretofore; which has a widened outer surface at the central-part of each end; and which can be readily formed without altering the basic design ofv the hanger.

'In accordance with this invention a brake hanger is provided which, when it is mounted in a hanger bracket and a brake head, has at the I middle of its endsthe usual slight clearance that normally exists between the ends of an inter locking type brake hanger and the adjacent confining surfaces'of the bracket and brake head. If, however, the hanger is U-shape with a pin through its upper end, it has a cross arm only at its lower end, so it is only with the lower end of such a. hanger that we need be concerned here. The outer surface of each'cross arm, instead of being longitudinally straight and parallel to its inner surface, is convex lengthwise. This produces increasing clearance outwardly toward both ends of the arm between the outer surface of the arm and the adjacent confining'surface. As a result, the cross arm can be tilted relative to its seat much farther'thanwould be possible if the clearance were uniformly small from end to end of the 'cross arm. Moreover, this increased ti1ting is sufficient to permit the brake beam to move lengthwise with the wheels even though their journals may have worn about as much as is permitted. j

Preferably, the outer surface of the cross arm has a central area that is substantially straight lengthwise and parallel lengthwise to its inner surface. It is this central area that normally is I closest theconfining surface'of the member in which the arm is seated. Fromthis central area the'outersurface of the cross arm 'is inclined inwardly toward the opposite ends of the arm. Also, the central area-preferably is made wider than the immediately adjoining areas of the outer surface by thickening the cross arm.

The preferredembodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which upper end; and Figs. 4, 5, and '6 are transverse sections taken on the lines IV-IV', V-V, and

VIVI,' respectively, of Ffig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, a conventhe outercentral portion of I tional brake hanger bracket 1 is shown projecting inwardly from the upper part of the side frame 2 of a railway car truck. Mounted in the jaw of this bracket is a U-shape wear plate 3 of well-known form having a transversely concave hanger seat 4 extending across its inner end. The inner portion of the wear plate curves upwardly behind the seat, and then the plate extends forward to provide a bearing surface or confining surface 5 above theseat. Theforwardportions of the bracket "and wear iplate areprovided-with vertically aligned holes through which a cotter pin 6 or other fastener extends for holding the- -i plate in the bracket.

arm of an integral loop brake hanger,. oi; theare connected at their ends by upper and lower cross arms 9 which are elongated vertically in transverse section, as shown in Figs; 4,5, and; 6. Preferably, these armsare' tapered or pearashape in transverse sectionwith the upper arm beingv tapered upwardly and thelower arm tapered downwardly.

The lower-cross-arm. of this hanger extends through a recess inthe central portion ;of.-a

brake head I2 attached to one end of a brake beam l3. The upper-surface.ofthis recess'is concave transversely and forms a-sea'cfor the upper or inner surface of the lower cross, arm. The lower surface 150i the seating recess forms a confining surface thatlimits upward movement of the brake-head relative to' the-hanger; From what hasbeen disclosed thustfar, it will be seen that the'brakehead. and beam are supported by the brake hanger in the customary, manner. I

Y It is a feature of this invention that, although. there is-as little as. about-a sixteenth of an .inch clearance between. the ends ofthe hanger and the adjacent confining: surfaces 5 and llL-this hangercan tilt itsown plane anamount sufficient to permit the brakejshoes- Gnot shown), which arecarried by the brake heads mounted on beam-J3, to follow the wheels throughout the extent of their axial movement. -Acoordingly,.

'the transversely, convexputer surfaces of. the

cross arms, i.v e., the upper, surface of the upper arm and the lower surfacaofjthelower arm, are: curved outwardly lengthwise of thecrossarms. The center of each of these convex, surfaces preferably is spaced about a sixteenth .of an inch from the adjacent confining surface so that vertical vibrationofi the,hangerv is restrained in. the same way as heretofore. Nevertheless,..bylimiting thiss nall clearance to the. central part of the cross arm, the latter cantilt lengthwise relative to its seat .to a greater degreethan if the same clearance. existed along the full length of thearm.

It will be understood, as illustratedinbroken lines in Fig. 1, that whenever the brake beamv is urged. to move lengthwise in either direction, it will cause each of its supporting brake hangers. to tilt sideways so that one end of its upper cross interlocking type well known in this an. The": round and vertical side arms 6- of?" this hanger wise and is normally horizontal, which makes it substantially parallel lengthwise to the straight inner surface of the same arm. With a standard hanger which is about six inches across, this central area may be about an inch long for best results. The rest of the cross arm's outer surface, at the ends of this horizontal central area, is inclined inwardly from area I! to the opposite ends of the arms, either in a straight or a gently curved The inclination of these areas (8 is; such: that, .When thecross arm tilted on its seat, neither one will engage the adjacent con- ;fining surface before the adjoining end of the central area does so.

and that. allows the maximum degree of tilting for the length ofscentral area 11. Moreover, for

the same minimum clearance, this maximum is considerably more than it would be if the entire outer surface of. the arm were parallel to'its inner surface and to the-adjacent confining surfa'ce.,-- -v Dueto areas I8 of the outer surface; of eachcross arm being inclined away from the adiacent confining surface of the supporting, or supported member, only the restricted outer central area l'l'will engage the confining surface while. the hanger is being shaken up and down or placed under compression while it is hanging, straight down from the bracket. To decrease the resulting wear thus concentrated on this restricted area, it is preferred to increase its size, without. affecting the tilting feature, by making it wider and thereby compensating to some extent for the surface area lost byinclining the areas 18. The central areas H may be widened conveniently by transversely. thickening the central outer portions of. the cross armsas. shown in the drawing. The central area,- as shown in Fig. 2,.therefore becomes considerablywider thanthe. adjoining-ends of inclined, areas 8. Metal for the thickened centralv portion of each cross arm can.

arm will lift ofi seat 4 while. the-opposite end.

be obtained during the forging operationby gatha ering it into the forging. dies. from the arm-Ts. end portions which. due to'mclinedsurf-aces 1.8, do not require so much metal as heretofore.

. A brakeh nger made: inaccordancewiththis, invention does not need tobereplaced, when journal wearbecomea appreciable, by anoldstyle. round,- arm hanger whichwill tiltmore than theusual interlocking. hangenbut which will also introduce the disadvantage of. excessive lost motion with its resultant vibration: and

wear.

According to the provisions of. the patent-statutes,-I. have explainedthe principle and con-; struction of my invention and have: illustrated and described what I now consider to-qrepresent, its best embodiment. However, I desire. to have. it understood that, within. thescope. of the an: pended claims, the inventionmaybe practiced. otherwise tharras. specifically illustrated and described.

Iclairn: 1. A brake hanger. having I a cross, arm provided with an. inner surface adapted to engage; a seat with slight cIearance nonnally-existing betweenthe central. area'of the. arms outer'sunface and an adjacent confining. su'rfacasaid arm being taperedoutwardly in. transverse section to-- ward saidouter surface with'the-central portionof, the arm tapered less sharply than thgadjoina ing portions, said inner surface 'andsaid central;

small area l' 'that i SHb m raight leng h 76. area being substantiallyparallel lengthwise-and said outer surface being inclined inwardly from said central area toward the opposite ends of said arm, whereby to permit increased longitudinal tilting of the cross arm relative to its seat.

2. A brake hanger having a one-piece cross arm tapered outwardly in transverse section, the inner surface of the arm being curved transversely to permit transverse rocking of the arm, the central portion of said arm being tapered less than the adjoining portions to thereby widen the central area of the arms outermost surface, and said outermost surface being inclined inwardly from said central area toward the opposite ends of said arm.

3. An integral brake hanger having upper and lower cross arms connected at their ends by vertical legs, each of said arms being pear shape in transverse section with the central area of its outer surface substantially parallel lengthwise to the axis of the arm, said outer surface being inclined inwardly from said central area toward the opposite ends of the arm, and said central area being materially wider than the areas of said surface immediately adjoining it.

4. The combination with a wear plate and a brake head each provided with a transverse brake hanger seat opposite a confining surface, of a brake hanger having upper and lower cross arms with inner surface engaging said seats for suspending the head from the wear plate, there being a slight clearance normally between the central area of each arm's outer surface and the adjacent confining surface, each of saidcentral areas being wider than the immediately adjoining outer surface areas to thereby provide enlarged central bearing areas, and said outer surfaces being inclined inwardly from said central areas. toward the opposite ends of said arms, whereby to permit sidewise movement of the brake head relative to said wear plate.

5. The combination with a wear plate and a brake head each provided with a transverse brake hanger seat opposite a bearing surface, of a brake hanger having upper and lower cross arms interlocking with said wear plate and brake head with the inner surfaces of said arms engaging said seats, the upper arm being tapered upwardly and the lower arm being tapered downwardly with their central portions tapered less sharply than the adjoining portions to provide relatively wide central outer surface areas, there being a slight clearance normally between said central areas and the adjacent confining surfaces of the wear plate and brake head, and the outer surfaces of the arms being inclined inwardly from said central areas toward the opposite ends of said arms, whereby. the cross arms can tilt on their seats to permit sidewise movement of the brake head relative to said wear plate.

FREDERIC SCHAEFER. 

